
Author- 



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i&— -aessQ-i Gpo 



THE POLICY 



OP 



THE GOVERNMENT 

SINCE THE GENERAL ELECTION. 



A SPEECH 

DELIVERED TO HI8 CONSTITUENTS IN THE 
TOWN HALL, BIRMINGHAM, 

On TUE8])AY, JUNE 7th, 1881, 



RIGHT HON. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P. 

(Prksident of tjik Board of Trade,) 



PUBLISHED BY 
THE NATIONAL LIBERAL FEDERATION, 

OmcErf : Atlas Ciia.mrers, Paradise Stkeet, Birmixoham, 



Ci 



i^\ : 



MR. CHAMBERLAINS SFEFXH 

ON THE 

POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT 

SINCE THE GENERAL ELECTION, 
DELIVERED IN THE BIllMINUHAM TOWN HALL. 



Mr. Chamberlain, who was received with loud and continued 
applause, said : Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, — I hope I may 
take the friendly welcome which you have just extended to me as a 
proof that you share the pleasure which I undoubtedly feel in being 
once more permitted to address you. (Applause.) I cannot allow 
this opportunity to pass without saying how deeply sensible I am of 
the consideration which you have shown, both for the pressure of 
work, and also for the occasional reserve which is imposed upon men 
in office, and which has induced you to dispense with those frequent 
meetings which have hitherto been a feature in the relations between 
your representatives and yourselves. But I can truly assure you 
that I am glad once more to meet you face to face. (Applause.) 
Much has happened since that general election in which you took no 
inconsiderable part, and I have been natui'ally anxious for an 
opportunity of submitting to you the proceedings in which I have 
since borne a share, and of asking upon them your judgment and 
jour opinion, (Cheern.) And therefore 1 have come down to you 



from the very thick of the battle which has been waged, almost 
without cessation, since this Government took otiice — not without 
hope, based on ihe experience of the past, on difficulties ovei'come, 
and on dangers surmounted, and not without anxiety and even alarm 
when I contemplate the future, which is still dark with many clouds. 
But I hope, gentlemen, that I may be fortunate enough to take hack 
with me the assurance of your continued sympathy and support — 
{loud cheers) — without which, I can assure you, ])ublic life would be 
only a barren and thankless task. 

Now, there was one result of the general election which I 
neither foresaw nor predicted, and that was that I should be called 
upon to take part in the Government which was rendered possible by 
the victory which you helped to achieve. (Applause.) I accepted 
the office which Mr. Gladstone graciously oflei-ed me — (cheei^s) — not 
without some hesitation, both because I naturally distrusted my own 
(jualifications af fer so short an experience of Parliamentary life, and 
also because I could not surrender without regret that full indepen- 
dence which I had enjoyed as a private membei'. If I had been 
alone concerned in the matter, it would have been a small question ; 
but I felt that when a member of P&rl lament takes office, his con- 
stituents also are called upon to share the sacrifice which he makes 
in this respect. A Liberal Government which ]iretends to represent 
the Liberal part)' must of necessity consist of men of diftei'ent 
shades of opinion. They are all animated by the same principles, 
they are all going in the same direction, but the order of progress and 
the rate of progress, and even the instruments and means by which 
pi^ogress is to be accomplished, are capable of infinite variety, and no 
man has any right to expect, under such circumstances, that he will 
always be able to have his own way. Everyone must be prepared 
to make some concessions, and all must be ready — so much I have 
learnt in my experience in Birmingham — to accept and to endeavour 
to carry out the will of the majority when it is expressed after fair 
discussion. But although I state this as an element and a condition 
of all governments — although without this no union and association 
is ever possible— I ventui^e to add that in Mr. Gladstone's Ministry 
I believe you haAe a Government which haF, been more united upon 



tlie uiaiii principles whicli sliould dictate its action than any Govern- 
ment before tliem confronted with questions of equal magnitude and 
equal complexity. (Applause.) And I am here to assert that, 
speaking generally — -because I do not stand upon isolated acts or 
upon particular decisions — but I say that speaking generally, we 
Jiave maintained the views which we expressed when ' we were in 
Opposition — the views which received the assent of an overwhelming 
nmjority of the nation. The Liberal party was returned to power 
because the country was disgusted and alarmed at the policy of 
i-eckless adventure which w^as pursued by the late Administration. 
Since that time twelve months have passed, and neither we nor they 
liave changed. In the latest speeches of the responsible leaders of 
the Opposition you find that the same spirit lives in them, that 
they have leaiiit nothing and forgotten nothing in adversity, and 
that they are, "even in penance, planning sins again." (Laiighter.) 
They criticise, as they are entitled to do, the acts of the pi'esent 
Ministry in severe terms, but it is evident that if they were to take 
our places they have nothing to otter as an alternative to the policy 
they condemn — (cheers) — but the old policy, which has been dis- 
credited by the country — the policy of secret agreements and open 
aggression^the policy which embarrassed the finances of the empire, 
which harassed our ti'ade and our industiy, and which threatened to 
involve us any day in calamity and disaster. (Applause.) I am 
glad to think that the issue can be so plainly stated as it has been 
recently by Lord Salisbury, in the speeches which he has delivered. 
It is true that what he has said has been subsequently in a slight 
degree modified by the gloss which Sir Stafford Northcote has 
attempted to put upon it. But then Sir Stafibrd Northcote is 
retained for this purpose. (Loud laughter and applause.) It is his 
business to reassure the timid and to minimise the truculent declara- 
tions of other leaders of his party, and he reminds me of the descrip- 
tion which was given of Madame Blaize in Goldsmith's poem— 
" She strove the neighbourhood to please 
With manners wondrous winning, 
She iiever followed wicked ways — 
Except when she Avas sinning." 



(Laixgliter and applause.) We have, however, to bear in mind tliat 
after all it is Lord Salislmry, and not 8ir Stafford Nortlicote, who 
dictates the j)oliey of the Conservative party — (hear, heai-)— and I 
am here to-night to ask whether, since the genei-al election, when 
you pi-ononnced your decision upon matters which were submitted to 
you, you have changed your mind. (Cries of "No, no.") Do you 
want the Tories back again ? (No, no.) Are you willing once moi-e 
to relegate to a distant futui-e all prospect of domestic reform in 
order to enter again upon a policy of meddlesome interference and 
wanton aggression 1 (No.) I hardly expected that you would have 
changed your opinion after so shoi't a time, and if you have not, then 
let us consider together, if you will have patience with me — let us 
consider together what progress has been made in an opposite 
dii'ection. If we have not been so successful as you and I would 
have desired, that is partly becaiise we have inherited a situation 
which we did not make for ourselves. (Hear, hear.) I sometimes 
regret that we could not have done what is so frequentl}^ done in the 
case of the transfer of a business from one firm to another, and that 
we could not have left the late firm to pay its own debts and wind 
up its own law suits — (laughter and applause) — and to leave us free 
to start on a new entei'prise. Just consider if that had 1>een possible, 
>\hat would bo the state of the account now. The Tories would be 
debited witli the war in Afghanistan, and the extra Id. in the 
income tax, which that war and the other obligations which tPiey 
contracted have involved, They would have to accept the conse- 
quences of their annexation of the Transvaal, as well as to pay the 
balance of the cost of the Zulu War ; they would have had to 
answer for the acquisition of Cyprus — (oh, oh) — with its permanent 
deficit, and with all the unrest and disquiet which has been produced 
in Europe in consequence. They would have had to carry out as 
best they might the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, and they would 
have had, in a large measure at all events, to share with us the 
responsibility of the situation in Ireland — (hear, hear) — which is 
l»artly due to their neglect of all remedial legislation — (hear, hear) — 
at a time when m_oderate measures would have prevented the troubles 
in which we noAv find ourselves invoh-ed. (Applause.) Aiad then, 



while they wore employed iu thus liquidating tlieir estate- — ami 
indeed I think they wouhl have found it difficult to pay 20,s. in tlie 
pound — our hands would have been free to carry on those great 
remedial measui-es which are required almost as muclr by the peojile 
of England and Scotland — (hear, hear) — as they are desired and 
claimed by the people of Ireland. (Hear, hear.) Unfortunately, no 
such division of labour has been possible. The first duty which was 
imposed upon the Government by the mandate of the constituencies 
was to set in order, as far as that might be possible, the affairs which 
the Conservatives had left in such admired confusion. (Laughter.) 
We have made some progress, I venture to think, and with regard to 
that portion of the work which we have completed, the silence of our 
opponents is the best testimony of our success, and it is also the best 
augury for the future. You know at the last general election what 
the Tories relied upon — their success in administering foreign affairs. 
(Laughte)-. ) It was admitted that we Liberals might perhaps be 
good at the drudgeiy of domestic administration, but it was said that 
if Ave undertook the conduct of the Imperial relations with other 
countries we should infallibly bring about wai', calamity, and 
disaster. Well, what has actually happened ? The concert of 
Europe, which our opponents have constantly ridiculed as impossible, 
has been maintained, and it has been powerful enough to effect the 
settlement of the difficult and irritating questions which at one time 
threatened a renewal of the war in the -East. And during the 
negotiations at Constantinople which Mr. Goschen — (loud applause) 
— has carried to a successful conclusion, Avith an ability, and 
skill, and patience, and courage Avhich have secured for him 
the applause of the House of Commons and the gratitude of 
his countrymen — (applaxise) — England took the lead, and the 
influence of England, which forsooth was to be desti-oyed when a 
Liberal Government came into power, never stood higher in Europe 
than it is at the present moment. (Applause.) Not because we 
have asserted any predominant interest in this question, not because 
A\'e have put forward any pretensions to dictate lo the Powers of 
Europe, but because it has been recognised that we have been frankly 
and honestly seeking, not our selfish ambition, but the common good 



of all and the peace and i^rosperity of Europe. (Applause.) Well, 
now I claim that this, at all events, is the fulfilment of one of the 
pledges which Mr. Gladstone gave — (applause) — befoi'e the general 
election ; and I ask you to observe that if that election had 
resulted differently it is not conceivable that the Montenegrin 
question and that the Greek question could have been settled without 
war by those who have always derided and held to be impossible any 
union of the Powers for common objects — -by those who have pro- 
tested against any pressure on the Sultan, and especially against the 
naval demonstration, who have sneered at the claims of Greece, and 
who, while pretending to protect Turkey from the possibility of 
partition, were so eager to take their share in the spoil that they did 
not hesitate to siiggest to other nations that they may pick out each 
their own piece of the plunder — (applause) — j)i^"0^'itl^f^ that they 
would wink at our proceedings. 

I do not think I need detain you at any length. (Go 
on.) What I need say, in fact, is not more than a sentence or 
two with regard to the action of the Government in Afghanistan. 
(A voice, " Caiidahar.") The account of our proceedings in 
that country constitutes the darkest chapter in the history of 
our Indian Empire. (Applause.) It is a chapter which will 
tell future generations how we entered upon a course of wanton 
aggression in order to obtain a scientific frontier — (laughter) — it will 
tell how British statesmen were instructed to create a pretext for the 
invasion of a free and friendly State ; and I thank God that that 
chapter, at all events, has been closed — (" hear, hear," and applause) 
— and I hope that it may never be continued. (Hear, hear.) But 
here, also, I ask you in passing to bear in mind that we learn from 
the action and from the speeches of the Conservative Opposition that 
if they had remained in power they would have continued in the same 
baneful course — they would have maintained the occupation of Can- 
dahar in spite of its injustice, in spite of the expense and the respon- 
sibility — and they would have done this, though it was certain to have 
involved us in almost permanent hostility with the Afghan people. 

But I pass on to consider graver and more critical questions — 



9 

questions which are still pending, and upon whicli, indeed, I cannot 
even now make a full exposition of our policy, although I think I 
may state enough to show the general principles by which we have 
been actuated, and to challenge your judgment upon them. (Hear, 
hear.) I want to speak to you on the question of Ireland — (loud 
cheers) — but I will reserve what I have to say for a few minutes 
while I ask your attention, in the first place, to the settlement which 
we have recently made of the unfortunate war in the Transvaal. 
(Hear, hear.) This settlement has been the object of violent attack 
in the House of Peers. Yon have been told that it constitutes a 
dismemberment of the empire ; that it is a national sun-ender ; you 
have been told for the hundredth time that it has destroyed the 
prestige of England ; and that it has caused Earl Cairns to blush, who 
never blushed before. (Laughter and applause.) Well, sir, these 
are terrible calamities, especially the last — (laughter) — but before we 
consider how far these accusations can be sustained, let me ask you 
to think seriously what is the alternative which it is said we ought 
to have adopted. We are accused of dismembering the empire, and 
to avoid this we ought, in the opinion of our opponents, to have 
maintained the annexation of the Transvaal. That annexation was 
made by the Conservative Government upon two distinct assurances. 
They declared, in the first place, xipon information which was supplied 
to them, that the majority of the white inhabitants of the Transvaal 
desired the transfer, and they declared that unless it were effected we 
should infallibly be involved in a native war, which would endanger 
our South African possessions. Well, you all know that after tliat 
transfer was effected we found ourselves, in spite of it, immediately 
involved in tAvo native wars — one with Cetewayo and the Zulu people, 
and the other with. Secocoeni ; and you know, and they know now if 
they did not know before, that the great majority of the Boer inha- 
bitants of the Transvaal are bitterly hostile to the English rule — 
(hear, hear) — and yet we are told that we ought to have persevered in 
wrong-doing, after it was proved that the two grounds upon which 
tlie annexation was defended were fallacious, and rested on no solid 
foundation — that we should still force our rule on an unwilling people, 
whose independence we had solemnly engaged by treaty to respect. 



10 

(A-jjplause.) And this we were to do in order to spare Lord Cairns 
the unwonted blush with which he graced his peroration and alarmed 
his brother peers. (Laughter.) I will not at this moment stop to 
question the morality of such a step as that, but I want you to think 
for a moment of the expediency of it, of the wisdom of those states - 
men who recommend such a course to Her Majesty's Government. It 
has been proved to us that the Boers are at all events brave soldiers 
■ — (hear, hear) — that they are physically, at least, a match even for 
English soldiers. The Transvaal is a country as large as France — a 
wild and difficult country^ — and it is perfectly evident to everyone 
that if we are to hold it down by force we must permanently maintain 
there a number of troops at least equal to the number of our possible 
o})ponents. Well, we know also that the Orange Free State, which 
is a neighbouring territory, would make common cause with their co- 
religionists and men of the same nationality in the Transvaal ; and 
therefore I say that it is perfectly certain that not less than fi'om 
15,000 to 20,000 English troops must be permanently stationed there 
if we are to hold that countiy by force and against the will of the 
inhabitants. And to what end are we to do this ? To prevent the 
dismemberment of the Empire. Why, the annexation was only 
reluctantly accepted by Lord Carnarvon three years ago. The terri- 
tory has only been in our hands for a short three years, and it came 
into our possession upon information which we now know to be 
incorrect. And if we let them go, this population of 4:0,000 — a 
population less than that contained in any one of the sixteen wards of 
this town in which I am speaking — why this dismembered Empire of 
ours will still contain 250,000,00t) of subjects to the Queen, to rule 
whom well and wisely is a duty and a responsibility which I think is 
sufficient even for the wildest ambition. Well, but we are told that 
there is another course which has recommended itself to some of oui- 
critics, and that is that we should have used the overwhelming forces 
which we placed at the disposal of Sir Evelyn Wood in order to attack 
the Boers, and that then, after we had defeated them in a bloody 
encounter — military honour being satisfied — we might have retired 
from the Tiansvaal, which we should have rendered desolate by the 
slaughtei- of many of its brave defenders. (Hear, liear.) Before sucli 



11 

a recojumeiuliitiou as tliat should coiuiueud itself Lo yonv minds, and 
to mine, lot us consider for a moment what sort of people these are 
whom we are asked to treat in this revengeful way. The Boers are 
not naturally a warlike race, they are a homely, industrious, and 
somewhat rude and uncivilised nation of fanners, living on the pro- 
duce of the soil. They are animated by a deep and somewhat stern 
religious sentiment, and they inherit from their ancestors— the men 
who won the independence of Holland from the oppressive rule of 
Philip II. of Spain — they inherit from them their unconquerable love 
of freedom and of liberty. Are not these qualities which commend 
themselves to men of the English race? (Applause.) Are they not 
vii-tues which we are })roud to believe form the best characteristics 
of the English people 1 Is it against such a nation that we are 
to be called upon to exercise the dread arbitrament of arms ? 
These men settled in the Transvaal in order to escape foreign 
rule. They had had many quarrels with the British, They 
left their homes in Natal as the English Puritans left England 
and went to the United States, and they founded a little 
Republic of their own in the heart of Africa; and in 1852 we 
made a treaty with them, and they agreed to give up slaveiy, 
which had hitherto prevailed in their midst, and we agreed to respect 
and to guarantee their independence ; and I say, under these circum- 
stances, is it possible we could maintain a forcible annexation of the 
country without incurring the accusation of having been guilty, I 
won't say of national folly, but I say of national crime ? (Applause.) 
That was the way in which ihe matter was understood by the late 
Government, who were not particularly scrupulous about these 
matters, but they distinctly instructed Sir Theophilus Shejostone, who 
was their representative in South Africa, not to take over the 
Transvaal unless he was satisfied that the majority of the peojile 
wished for the change. He did satisfy himself, as we know now, 
upon insufficient and inaccurate information. The annexation was 
submitted to Parliament, and I am glad to think that on that 
occasion I was one of the small minority who voted against the pro- 
ceeding. (Applause.) At the same time, I ■will frankly admit, there 
were very strong arguments indeed to justify the majority in the 



12 

course •wlaicli they took — arguments based upon the assurances which 
were given to us by the Government. That was in 1877. Shortly 
afterwards the Zulu war broke out and the Boers remained quiet. I 
daresay they were not unnaturally very well satisfied to see the English 
doing their work for them, fighting and destroying their former 
enemies. At all events, they contented theuiselves with pi'o tests, and 
memorials, and deputations to this country. The late Government 
I'ejected their petitions, and refused to re-consider the question of 
annexation, and so matters stood when we came into office. About 
that time we were all agreed — there was no difference of opinion — that 
the original annexation was a mistake, that it ought never to have 
been made — (hear, hear) — and then there arose the question, could it 
then be undone 1 It is very easy to do evil ; it is not so easy to 
escape the consequences of it — (applause) — or to put things back 
again in the same position in which they would have been if they 
had been untouched. We were in possession of information to the 
effect that the great majority of the people of the Transvaal were 
reconciled to annexation. We were told that if we reversed the 
decision of the late Government there was a great probability of civil 
war and anarchy, and, acting upon these representations, we decided 
that we could not recommend the Queen to relinquish her sovereignty, 
but we assured the Boers that we would take the earliest opportunity 
of granting to them the freest and the most complete local institu- 
tions which might be found compatible with the welfare of South 
Africa. You know it is not difficult to be wise after the event. It 
is not difficult to see now that we did wrong in so deciding. I 
frankly admit that we made a mistake. I say that whatever the risk 
was — and I believe it was a great one — of civil war or anarchy in the 
Transvaal, if we had reversed the decision, it was not so great a 
danger as that which we actually inciirred by maintaining the wrong- 
doing of our predecessors. But let me show you what was the kind 
of infoi'mation upon which we acted. We i-eceived despatches to 
the same eflE'ect, which were continued almost to the actual outbreak 
of hostilities. We received a despatch, dated November 19th, 1880, 
from Sir Owen Lanyon, who was administrating the Transvaal, in 
which he said " three-fourths of the population are secretly in favour 



13 

of annexation. The action of a few agitators must not lie taken to 
be tlie opinion of the country, and there is not much, if any, cause 
for anxiety in the state of affairs." In a despatch, dated December 
5th, he repeated similar sentiments. On December 1 6th, barely ten days 
later, the Boers broke out into open insurrection. They established 
a provisional government, and they hoisted the old flag of the 
Republic at Heidelburg. Well, there was then, at all events, no 
longer the possibility of a doubt as to the state of affairs. It was 
perfectly evident under those altered conditions that we should have 
to make new arrangements ; but at the same time it was necessary 
that we should be in a position to take guarantees, in the first place, 
for the safety of loyal settlers, if there were any such, in the 
Transvaal ; in the second place for the good treatment of tlie native 
])opulation who had accepted our rule ; and, in the third place, against 
the recurrence of qiiari'els with native tribes across the borders, which 
might lead to difficulties in South Africa. And therefore we hurried 
forward reinforcements with such speed that, when later on the con- 
ditions of peace were arranged by Sir Evelyn Wood, he had under 
his command something like 12,000 troops — more than the total 
adult male population of the whole of the Boers in the Transvaal. 
Now, just let me say in passing a word about Sir Evelyn Wood. He 
is known to you — he is known to every Englishman as one of the 
bravest soldiers, as one of the most skilful commanders in the 
British service. (Applause.) But I say that in my humble judg- 
ment he has earned a higher title to admiration and to the respect of 
his fellow-countrymen by his loyalty in carrying out satisfactory terms 
of settlement, by resisting the temptation which might well be strong to 
a soldier of using his overwhelming force in order to revenge a 
military disaster, than he would have done if he had won the gi-eatest 
victory, or had entered the Transvaal in triumph over the dead bodies 
of its slain. (Applause.) While, then, the Government wei^e 
preparing for every event, we did not think that we were justified — ■ 
and it is for you to say how far you agree with us — we did not think 
we were justified in closing the door to a peaceful settlement. (Heai-, 
hear.) The overtures for this settlement came in the fii'st instance 
from President Brand, a man who is deserving of the hearty recog- 



14 

nition of every friend of peace. (Applause.) He is ilie President 
of the Orange Free State. He lias done liis best to prevent liis 
fellow countrymen from going into the "war, and to put a stop to the 
unnecessary efFirsion of blood. And in the second, place, overtures 
came from the Boer leaders. Mr. Kruger, their Yice-president, 
wrote to Sir G-eorge Golley to say that he was confident of the justice 
of his cause ; and he was so certain that the English people, if they 
only knew the true facts, would do him right, that he was willing to 
submit the case to a Royal Commission, to be appointed by the 
Queen. Well, sir, we thought that those were terms which ought 
to be accepted — (ajjplause) — and we instructed Sir George Golley, if 
certain conditions could be obtained, to arrange for a settlemeiit 
u2)on that basis. Among the conditions, the first and most important 
was that the Boers should desist from armed opposition. But while 
the correspondence was going on, in the midst of the negotiations, 
unfortunately, on three several occasions, the British troops marching 
in inferior numbers to attack the strong position of the Boers, met 
with a repulse. Those events were deplored by us, as they must be 
by everyone, but they did not seem to us to constitute a reason 
why we should withdraw the offer which we had previously made. 
(Applause.) In those attacks we were the aggressors — not the Boers 
— and our losses, greatly as we grieve for them, did not make the 
original cause of war more just — they did not make the prolongation 
of this miserable and inglorious struggle more desirable and expedient. 
(Hear, hear.) And therefore, when Sir Evelyn V/ood, acting on his 
own responsibility, arranged for an armistice, we approved his pro- 
ceedings. (Applause.) And when the terms of peace were arranged, 
when the Boers accepted our offer, as we had originally made it, we 
rejoiced in the prospect of a settlement without farther effusion of 
blood, whether of Englishmen or Dutchmen — (applause) — -and we did 
not thhik the English people would feel themselves to be humiliated 
because their Government had refused knowingly to persist in a 
course of oppression and wrong-doing, and because we had accepted, 
without a victory, terms which were the best we could reasonably 
expect that even the greatest victory would give to us. (Ajijlause.) 
We are a great and powerful nation. What is the use of being great 



15 

and powerful if we are afraid to arlmit an error wlien we are conscious 
of it? (Applaxiae.) iSliame is not in the confession of a mistake. Shame 
lies only in persistency in wilful wrong-doing. (Hear, hear.) And 
if Earl Cairns likes to sit in sackcloth and ashes — if he likes, in well- 
feigned abasement, to expiate the folly of the Adnninistration of which 
he was a member in the hasty annexation which has led to all these 
trials — in Heaven's name let him have that gratification. (Ohecrs). 
Bat when he dares to say that the English nation is shamed by the 
course we have taken, I deny him the right to be judge in such a 
cause, and I aj)peal to the impartial public opinion of Europe and of 
America, which has approved of the action of the Government in 
preferring justice to revenge — (cheers) — and the best interests of 
South Africa to the vain pursuit of military glory. (Cheers.) 

Sir, I now approach the last subject upon which I shall venture 
to address you. In referriiig to the Ftate of Ireland, T do so under 
the gravest sense of the n sponsiiiiiity attaching to anyone who touches 
upon such :i tli^me. At this m )m(int an exciul)le people, suffering 
under the sense of long-continued injustice and wrong — (hear, hear) 
— only lately coming out of great tribulation, having endured hardship 
unexampled and extraordinary privation, having barely escaped starva- 
tion in consequence of the extraordinary efforts of public charity — 
thepe people, with such a character and under such conditions, are 
being encouraged by leaders in whom they hive j)laced their confidence 
— (hear, hear) — to defy what they believe to be an unjust law — 
(cheers) — and to seek by disorder, and even by violence, to redress 
their grievances. Under these circumstances, when class is set against 
class, when any moment may bring about a collision which will fill all 
our minds with horror, no true friend of Ireland would dare to say 
anything which could add fuel to the flame. (Cheers ) "The condition 
of Ireland is desperate and ciitical." These are not my words; these 
are the words of Mi\ Smith, the late First Lord of the Admiralty, in 
the debate on the second reading of the Land Bill, JMr. Smith went 
on to say that this condition of things was the fault of the Government, 
Vf ho had delayed too hmg, and -had been reluctMUt in ap|>]ying for 
extraordinary jiowers, and vvho, when they obtained them, had been 



16 

weak and Langnid in. enforciag them. Well, that is an hypothesis 
wiik^ might have some w^ght, to which some importance might be 
attached, if it we-- - :: -r: -rinatdr the case that the state of Ireland, 
desperate and c— i: :.-- li i: is. is not excepnonaL The state of Ireland 
dn-in^ '.Zt -ir. z.:..: i-entnrr has bee:i :ze :: ilz::;: chronic disorder. 
E-:- "^:~ z:~i :-. r^rple who. by c:~ = f": :: : ir~ i izifoe. are remark- 
a^l- .1 nil," : iif? f:T their obe-ie-Cr to lae oriiiiary law — (hear, 
he ^: — i T e :.T — i : - - listory is signalised by a smgnlar and admirable 
at.-ei;e :_ :::-i :t : :l_t l i yet yoa hare them from time to time 
breir'r^r :z: ::-:: Ti::"-^:!:- :: ^ rraiian Tidence and disorder. Under 
the-z : -:~::i~ir. ItS :: ii Tt::t::-" evident, I think, to every right- 
Uiinkmg man th=T :le j^ises of thfe disorder are more deep-seated 
than Mr. Saiitt :i r-r? : = .ppose, and that they are not to be found 
s<Jely in the ser" :- - :_-5 : :: iny previoas Grovemment. They are to 
be fonri iz- zzi ::zz'zl:z :: :ie people themselves, and we mnst 
ent deep if we want to ge" s: the bottom of the matter. 
In past t:ziT= Hiigliah statesmen, tmfortnnately, have only had 
oaie way iriing with what they call Irish disaffection. 

They have £J'.t;- ::erdon q-Qickly enongh, ani thev have 
ai^Jied it '-zzz^z-.j -zzz2z :: s:-:'=— even the Tories : and 
it canDot be iiii :: zz^zz. 3.: i.. z'^-.z". taat the restrictive 
Toeasarps which they have adcjtTi ^i^e . --__ ^ .zr-ii> enforced. We 
live had, I have read somewhere, fifty Coercion Acts — Acts of 
-ccrs-sion — in Ireland since 1S3*J. "f}.""" T^at is one for every 
c- i" the half eentnry which hi= ci Ct 1 - ice that date. Well, 

- : _ r-z le z-.-zr. \ Ireland is still discontented. Ireland is 
E : fr-r : :ci c .1 :c:;' £= of disorder. Kow, I want to call 

- : :: c::e-:::c c: :it ...cm ::i of past policy in reference to this 

- :-'. In l^vl ciere ~i5 irz cciccreaii :: lisDrder which in manv 
Tr^cec:- c^ ~-rr; \zzzi: :: cic :cr ~-_;:c — r rc^ now witnessing. It 

- ;i 1 ^cc-C- It _ 1:1 Ct c.c \7zzz CC.C zivcaent of tithes, and is 
re :c 1 _c . : 1 .ir ci.ic — c: ci:. ^rhen it broke out the Govern- 
ed e-c :::z the usoal steps — they passed Whiteboy Acts, they passed 
c- Aci- Act, thqr passed the snspaiaun of the Habeas Corpus Act : 

c i e of this action on the part of the English G-ovemment, 
\:^\ :^ ?Tet ootrages especially, stall continued, and in 1833 — 



17 

two yeais after the disturbances first broke out — Lord Stanley, who is 
better known as the late Earl of Derby, but who was then Chief 
Secretary for Ireland in the House of Commons, told the House of 
Commons that ''the record of crime in Ireland almost surpasses 
belief." In one cc^Lnry — the county of Kilkenny — there were 32 
murders and attempts a: ^~rler. oi burnings of houses, 17'S assaults 
with danger to life, old burglaries, and 34 hough ings of catde. Bad 
as is the state of things which we now recognise in Ireland, it is 
nothing like so bad as things were in 1S33. But why have I kid 
before yen this statement of what hapf-^zri s: -i-Z i-z. '-■ It is 
because I think that this experience and much which has happened 
since is a proof of the tmtli of the maxim which Mr. Bright laid 
down in this hall — (cheers — 5;zie months ago, and which has be^i 
much questioned since, and which says that force b no remedy. 
(Applause.) Mind, that dees not say that force may no4 be 
necessary — (hear, hear) — tut it is no remedy. If a man is ill — 
if he suffers from fever, ari cecomes deliiious, his :nr^_i i_iy 
properly put a stra:: ~. :_-:::: in. him to preTent him from 
injuring himself and :l:5e :^:-^_ him. (Applause^) But if in 
doing this they said that they thought it to be a cure and a spedfic 
for the fever they would be considered by all (rf' us to be out of their 
senses. The Government of a free country is bound to take every 
step, every means in its power, in order to secure obedietce to the law. 
(Loud cheers.) The law is the safeguard of the liberty of every one 
of us. (Cheers.) The law means the protection of the ~-Sz -rainst 
the strong, and it" any class sets itself above the law, an- :: .. _- : varn- 
ment should abet them in d::cg =: Tie:: I say there would be an end 
of all the constitutional r . i r i i : r f s of our personal liberties. (Applause. ) 
On the other hand, the -: "foment — any Government — ^is bound to 
do its best to alter and amend the law where it thinks it to be unjust. 
(Hear, hear, and applause.) These are two duties of a Government 
which run together, and which cannot be separated. The late 
Lord Beaeonsfield when he was Mr. Disraeli, and was addresing 
himself to a somewhat similar subject, said one of the wisest things 
which, I believe, he ever spoke. He described to the House of 
Commons the then ccudidon of Ireland, and he wotind up by saying-, 



18 

" What should be the duty, under these circumstances, of an English 
statesman ? Your duty is to effect by peaceful and constitutional 
means all tluit a revolution would effect by force." (Flear, hear, and 
applause.) Well, sir, that was precisely what JMr. Gladstone attempted 
to do by the Laud Act of 1870. That Act, as we all know, was ii()t 
a complete success. Its partial failure was due to two things. It 
was due, in the first place, to the action of the House of Lords, who 
on this, as on so many other previous occasions, mutilated and destroyed 
the effect of bills sent up to it from the Lower House, and it was 
partly due to the action of some of the landlords of Ireland, who 
unwisely endeavoured to escape from, the conditions of the Act — 
conditions which might have enabled them to establish on a firm and 
friendly footing their relations with their tenants — and who by slow 
degi-ees raised the rents upon the holders of land until the burden 
became to great to be borne. Between 1870 and 1876 there was over 
a large part of Ireland a great rise in rents. This took place, not in 
jumps but in small gradual advances, no single one of which the tenant 
felt himself justified in refusing, although the efi'ect of the whole of 
them together was that, although he could just pay his way in good 
times, when the bad seasons came he was ruined hopelessly, and had 
to leave and give up his means of livt^lihood. Well now, these facts 
were laid before Parliament from time to time. Unfortunately they 
could not secure either the attention of the last Parliament or the 
attention of the Government. I have seen it stated, in a pamphlet 
written by an Irishman of some note and weight, that if in 1875 the 
then Government had brought in a bill to protect the tenants against 
the exaction of unfair rents, there would have been no agitation and 
ro trouble whatever in Ireland. (Applause.) Unfortunately they 
did nothing, and I am sorry to say it has Keen only too often the case 
in Irish affiairs that we have attempted to redress grievances after too 
long a delay, and we have had to pay an increasing penalty every day 
that we have postponed our necessary action. Well, now, after this 
there came the recent famine. The Government made large grants of 
money in aid of the Irish people, grants which, I am afraid, in a great 
number of cases never reached the sufferers for whom they were 
intended ; but they refused absolutely to do anything towards amending 



19 

the law. Under these circumstances it was that the Land League was 
first formed, (Hear, hear, and applause.) lb was started iii the 
last years of the late government, and from that day Irish discontent 
has assumed an organised form. Then, we took office ; we took office 
pledged by the declarations of almost every member of the Ministry, 
by our avowed sympathies, by our known convictions, to do our very 
best at the earliest possible moment to seek out the cause, the deep 
underlying cause, of Irish disaffection, and, if possible, to remove 
it by legislation. (Applause.) Events moved too quickly for us. 
Before we were well seated in office, before we had obtained the 
report of the Commissioners whom we appointed to examine into 
this matter, we were called upon to deal with one phase of the Irish 
difficulty. Well, we did nut hesitate. We sacrificed all our preconceived 
plans and schemes, we gave up the programme which we had 
recommended to Parliament ; we stopped, we delayed proceeding with 
English and Scotch business, and we introduced a bill, the Compensation 
for Disturbance Bill — (applause) — ^which occupied many weeks of time, 
and which, as you know, led to a very protracted session. You will 
recollect the solemn warning which Mr. Gladstone, in urging the 
acceptance of that bill upon the House of Commons, addressed to us in 
reference to the state of affairs. He said, " Ireland stands within 
measurable distance of civil war," and he urged that this bill should be 
accepted as, in the opinion of the Government, necessary to strengthen 
their hands, and to enable them to secure obedience to law and order. 
The warning was neglected — the House of Lords — (liibsed) — rejected 
the bill — (shame) — and I say, never in the history of that House has 
it committed a more unwise and a more unpatriotic act. (Applause.) 
If that bill had been passed we have the assurance of the leaders of the 
Irish Land League themselves that they could not have successfully 
continued their agitation. The bill was rejected, and civil war has 
begun. Class is arrayed against class in social strife, and now 30,000 
soldiers and 12,000 policemen are barely sufficient to enable the 
Government to protect the lives and the property of the Queen's 
subjects in Ireland. Well, it is said sometimes that we ou^ht to have 
had another sussion of Parliament, and that the bill should have been 
sent up again to the Lords. Our critics seems to forget that we are 



20 

not a despotic Government, and that we have not the power to do 
what we will. We can only act within the limits of the constitution, 
and if we had called another session of Parliament, and if we had sent 
up the bill to the House of Lords, inasmuch as we were only able to 
secure a comparatively small majority in its favour in the House of 
Commons on the first occasion, I believe it is probable that the bill 
would have been again rejected. It is said we might have dissolved 
Parliament ; but if you consider that we had only had a general 
election a few months before, and the effect of such a proposal at a 
time when Ireland was seething with disaffection, I think you will 
feel that it is one which no reasonable man would make, and which 
no prudent Government would be able seriously to consider. What is 
to be done now? (Applause.) Well, the Tories have no doubt 
whatever as to the course which we ought to pursue. By the mouths 
of their leaders, by their organs in the press, they urge upon the 
Government to put aside at once the liand Bill, to give iip any attempt 
at remedial legislation, and to go to Parliament for more and mox'e 
coercion, for the abolitio.i of Trial by Jury, for the suppression of the 
Land League, and for other stringent and arbitrary measures. Well 
now, for my part I hate coercion. (Applause.) I hate the name and 
I hate the thing. (Renewed applause.) I am bound to say that I 
believe there is not one of my colleagues who does not hate it as I do. 
But then we hate disorder more. (Cheers.) It seems to me that the 
issue is now with the Irish people ^aud ^^those who lead them. They 
can have no doubt any longer — it might^have beeu possible before — 
they can have no doubt any longer as to the intentions of the Govern- 
ment. We have brought in a Land Bill. (Prolonged applause.) We 
have offered our message of peace to the Iribh people. It is a bill, 
indeed, which Lord Salisbury professes he cannot understand ; but I 
don't find that his want of intelligence has prevented him from 
denouncing it in the strongest terms. It is a bill which Sir Stafford 
Northcote appears to consider of no importance, for he urges the 
Government to give to the House of Commons some proposals of 
really serious legislation which would justify the absence of obstructive 
proceedings. But this bill which Lord Salibbnry cannot understand — 
this bill which Sir Stafford Northcote thinks to be of no importance, 



21 

lias been, I am glad to say, accepted generally as to its main principles, 
in the spirit in which it has been conceived, by all that is most reason- 
able and intelligent amongst the Irish people. (A.pplause.) I do not 
say that it may not be susceptible of amendment, but I say that as it 
stands, and, speaking gen3rally of its main provisions, that it has been 
welcomed by the majority of the Irish press. It has been frankly 
accepted as satisfactory by the whole of Ulster. It has been approved 
— I am always speakiig of its main proposals — it has been approved 
by the Roman Catholic clergy — and let me say, in passing, that 
although there have been of course some exceptions, I think the action 
oi the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland during these disturbances has 
been on the whole worthy of thtir cloth — (applause) — and of their 
religion, and that the influence to which their sympathies with the 
people justly entitle them has been exercised on the whole on the side 
of law and order. Well, sir, this bill, as I say, has been accepted in 
its main provisions by the Roman Catholic clergy. It has been 
accepted by the representatives of Ireland. Out of 101 of them, only 
seven were found to vote against the second reading of the bill, and of 
those seven, three, I believe, were members of the late Government. 
This bill has bean accepted as, at all events, a basis of a satisfactory 
settlement. We have pledged ourselves to do everything which lies 
within our power to carry it to^a speedy and satisfactory conclusion. 
We have stakedour existence upon it. (Loud cheers.) There is no 
possibility of retreat. And now just let me tell you in a few words 
what this bill which Lord Salisbury cannot understand really is. I 
fancy that the intelligence of Birmingham working men will, at least, 
be equal to a demand which has proved too great a strain on Lord 
Salisbury's attention. (Laughter.) This is a bill which provides, in 
the first place, for an impartial ^tribunal, to which every small tenant 
in Ireland can go in order to fix a fair rent between himself and his 
landlord if they should happen to disagree. This bill permits every 
small tenant to sell his goodwill or tenant-right for the best price he 
can get for it, if he wishes to exchange or leave his holding ; and in 
this way it secures him absolutely in all the improvements which he 
may make upon the land. It gives to him also SLCurity of tenure in 
his holding, provided he fulfils the reasonable requirements and condi- 



22 

tions of the tenancy. And, in addition to that, it affords facilities 
greater than have ever been suggested before, whereby many of these 
tenants, at all events, will be able on reasonable and moderate terms 
to acquire full possession of the land which they now till as occupying 
tenants. (Applause.) A few weeks, or at most a month or two, must 
settle the fate of the Government and the fate of this measure. May 
we not call a truce, under these circumstances, in the bitter civil war^ 
which, as I have said, is going on ? I appeal to the landlords first, who 
have in many cases been very long-suffering and patient, to have yet 
a little more forbearance with their tenants, at all events during the 
time which must intervene before their relations with them are finally 
settled. I hope, also, that I may venture to appeal to the Irish people. 
(Applause.) I appeal to them as I appealed to them, I am sorry to 
say without success, before — I appeal to them not to play into the 
hands of their enemies. (Cheers ) I appeal to them not to make the 
policy of conciliation difficult, or even impossible, for us by acts of 
violence and disorder which every honest man condemns. (Applause.) 
I believe that if we could tide over this intervening time, 'or if we could 
by some magic power secure the immediate passage of this bill, that we 
should have a settlement of this disastrous state of things. The Tories 
say that it would not be a final settlement. Well, perhaps not. There 
is no finality in politics— (applause) — and every generation in turn 
must solve its own problems, and carry forward to a successful issue its 
own reforms. (Applause.) But at least we should have done our 
duty — at least we should have dealt with the question of the moment, 
and until some new grievance might ai-ise to be dealt with, with equal 
justice and, 1 hope, with greater promptitude — until such time, at 
least, we should have established the relations of the Irish people on a 
satisfactory footing. But I am afraid there are two parties who do 
not want a settlement of this question — (applause) — and those are the 
Tories and the leaders of the Land League. (Applause.) Since the 
Easter holidays every day of Government time has been given, with- 
out intermission, in order to promote the progress of this great and 
vitally important measure, and yet up to the present day, only six 
lines of the bill, which consists of over a thousand lines, have passed 
through Committee. There are some people who think that the time 



23 

may shortly come when a review of the position and functions of the 
House of Lords may not be an inappropriate subject for the considera- 
tion of the English people — (applause)— but I venture to say that the 
urgent question of the moment, the point to which every reformer 
should now direct his first attention, is the reform of the procedure of 
theHouse of Commons. (Applause.) The House of Commons has ceased 
to be able to represent or give effect to the will of the majority of the 
nation. It has suuk into a great debating society, without power to come 
to a decision, or to register and carry out the mandate which it has i-e- 
ceived from the constituencies. And while discussion is prolonged in 
the House of Commons the gloom of the situation in In land extends 
and deepens. Our talk never slackens, neither does the agitation 
in Ireland. And I am sometimes afraid lest even this great measure of 
reform may come too late, and provisions which would be satisfactory, 
which would be gratefully accepted, if they could be immediately 
accorded, may yet be rejected if they are indefinitely postponed. 
Now, why is it this important decision is so long delayed ? In the first 
place, the Government has to deal with the ill-concealed — I migbt 
almost say the avowed — hostility of a certain section of the leaders of 
the Irish party. There is no secret about what I am going to say : 
there is no dispute about it. Mr. Parnell, and those who follow him 
have never concealed the fact that their chief object is not the removal 
of grievances in Ireland, but the separation of Ireland from England. 
(Hear, hear.) Why only a few months ago, Mr. Parnell, speaking in 
Ireland, said that he would never have joined the Land League, he 
would have taken no part in this great agitation which has been called 
into existence to redeem the Irish people from consequences of 
centuries of wrong, he would have taken no part in that agitation if he 
had not thought it would have helped him in the Nationalist and 
Separatist movement in which he chiefly takes an interest. How can we 
satisfy these men? Our object is not the same as theirs ; we want to 
remove every just cause of grievance. They want to magnify 
grievances and to intensify differences. We want to unite the Irish 
people and the English and the Scotch in bonds of amity. We want, 
I say, to bind the Irish people to this country in bonds of amhy an J 
c rdial union — (hear, hear) — just as much as Scotland is united to 



•24 

England, although the time was when Scotchmen felt as bitter a 
hostility to the union as Irishmen now profess to feel. Well, under 
these circumstances, I find, that the gentlemen to whom I have referred 
do not openly oppose the Land Bill, because, I believe, they are well 
aware that their constituents would not justify them ia such a course. 
(Hear, hear.) But they are not unwilling to put obstacles in its way. 
They are not unwilling to raise motions for adjournment or to put 
questions which lead to debate, and which take up the precious time 
of the House, which ought to be expended solely in the promotion of 
this measure; and, above all, they try by agitation to force upon the 
(iovernmuit impossible concessions — (hear, hear)— the effect of which, 
if only we were to accept them, they know would be that the bill 
would very likely be rejected by the House of Commons and would 
certainly be rejected by the House of Peers. Now, I observe, at a 
meeting which was held on Sunday last in Hyde Park, Mr. Parnell 
made a suggestion that the Government should refuse in the future to 
allow the soldiery or police in Ireland to be employed in the protection 
of the officers who are carrying out the law. I do not think that Mr. 
Parnell himself sees exactly the whole of the fatal consequences which 
would follow the adoption of such a suggestion. Let us see what it 
amounts to. It amounts to this — that any Grovernment which thinks 
a law unjust should at once set itself above the law, and should refuse 
to allow that law to be put in force. (Hear, hear.) What is it which 
gives security to all of us? What is it which enables every one of 
you — the humblest among you — to feel that your homes are protected 
from violence, and that the persons and lives of those who are dear to 
you are safe from outrages ? Why, it is the sense that you have the 
support and assistance of the law, so long as you obey the law. (Loud 
applause ) And it is the sense that behind the law there is all the 
force of a mighty empire, all the power that the strongest Government 
can wield. I say if you take this security from us, you take from us 
everything which guarantees our liberties and our freedom. It is all 
very well for us now to say this law is unjust. The Tory Government 
which follows us may think another law equally open to objection, and 
Government after Government will set up a separate despotism of its 
o.vn, and the freedom and liberties of three kingdoms will be 



■25 

destniyedL (Apf^anae.) Wei], but there are other cerndderatioss a!so 
which most be weighed in this matter. An evictioii msr be^ acd in 
aoBie cases it is, a haiah and opf^rsane act — (hear, hear) — bat en Ae 
other hand it may be — no one can deny it — it maj be the orv^ -^i^ 
which a landknd. may have to obtain a fair and ncfif:-^:^ rri 
which the IiTelibood of bimadf and family dependa. I :^ li: :i i 
a case as I hare desenbed the landkxd's root is as i!i<i:\i !_:■ ^ : i^ . 
IB yonr coat er yonr money is yoois. (Lood applanse^ ilr. r i:^^ 
te"i -5 :li: '-^ iTice wMdi he iii= r'Tr' :: Irisl :r^ir- li :"ii: :h^y 
i/r - :: :: 7-- -r;:- rents. (Heir, lirir '^ri: 'r-rrT - i . : : : I -' 
:. :r ii.i i"::i: i: :i a crorosi:::!. :- :li: 1i r r; -z_^i :: :r 



even the "ir-: i:i 1 1::-: ;:::^-: ii:::::^^: :: :: :': '\z -..Lizi :^ r"T: ' 
case topay :^.-. I'z^ i-' w :i : zi =;^wii cLrccui.iCiii^ii ja :^tH^. -::^t :;^ 1 — 
Bat nofbrtnnatelv : :, z,A alL Whatever Mr r^7:irLi_i :: 
other leaders of :1t lir.i Iriir in Ireland it. i T. r-i -tIi-t li lir 
the pet^e -:: :: 7;.- iri- :r-: 3.t 3" ^z:. :: :: i :;;: r^^: 
hundreds a^l \L\:.i\z.\^i :: : ^r- :^t 7: -1 : lii;; t : . : — i: : - 
ban^ol advice. TJ:r -::\ti: :^:::e -^r-: -;-^r-:.Ti: - :: ; : i =ii^^_ 
one. What wr -^\z.-. :: :r:i 1 \: is 'lvi t — iz: :: :: z;— ~r ; /. 

protect the hon-;- :r::i:i: 7:11 :i^ :-/ii: ^. : :t: :.- -i :_-;^:: : i 
emd and haish landkcd, andHre wani^ on the o^ber hand, to do that 
ao that we may not at die same time protect the dishoneat tenant in 
his dishonesty — (hear, hear) — and hdp him to fake advantage of this 
agitation to rob his creditors^ refoaing, with non^ in his po^ssts, to 
pay his landktd, who, pediaps, b poora- than faimselL (Applanaa.) 
Then the bill has ako been delayed hy the action of the Tfxies, who are 
driving by amendments and by discosaian to fianee npon the 
GoTetnment pnoriamis for the compeBsatian c^ the landloids far what 
they call the eonfiacatitm Of thar pmperty. I veiy mod danbt 
whether these amendmenlB are really suggested by Ir^h lacdlords, who^ 
I bdieTe,as a mle,are only anxionslbr areaaoda .T srv-r— e-'. lam 
ineiiiied to think they are si^gested fay T&agli; 1 .1 : : ' ~ _ : ire 
a&aid (tf inconTenient precedents^ (AjqiianaeL) ^ : - 17 : -i _ =aj 
that these amen i:i:rL-.i are nnreaaooaWe, and ;:ri". ■ be rgeefced. 
i Applaoae.) What >3.-e ~e to eranpeBsate '.'-- ^:: - :: Lrelandfor? 



26 

We do not propose to do anything above and beyond this — to make 
compulsory upon all landlords the practice which we are assured the 
majority of landlords, and certainly of good landlords, already adopt. 
Good landlords do not rack their tenants. Why should bad landlords 
be compensated for a legal right which they cannot equitably exercise ? 
A good landlord will not forfeit the property or the improvements of 
his tenants, and he will not lightly evict from his holding — which 
perhaps is the only means of livelihood which the tenant has — a man 
who, by himself and his family, has remained perhaps longer on the 
ground even than the landlord who is in authority over him ; yet bad 
landlords have done this in some cases, and might do in many more, 
and I cannot conceive that they have any right to claim compensation 
for the restriction and limitation of powers which they ought never to 
have been permitted to enjoy. In our English legislation there are 
numberless precedents in which legal rights have been found to be in 
conflict with public morality and public interest, and have been 
restricted and limited, and I am not aware of any such cases in which 
compensation has been given to those who have been thus treated 
Irish landlords must look for their real compensation for any sacrifice, 
if sacrifice it be which they are called upon to make, in the fact that 
it is only in some restriction of their rights that their relations with 
their tenants can possibly be replaced in a friendly and satisfactory 
condition; and as the rights of Irish landlords are now only maintained 
by the presence of an English garrison, and would not exist for a 
moment if that garrison were removed, it appears to me that the 
English people which maintains this garrison is entitled to a voice in 
settling the conditions under which the protection which they give 
shall continue to be afforded. (Applause.) Well now, gentlemen, I 
h-ave brought down the narrative to the present time. I cannot 
attempt — I will not venture to predict the future. The Government 
is striving to steer an even course between extremes. We have been 
told that the bill which we have brought in is the minimum which the 
Irish people can accept. I believe it is the maximum which any 
English Parliament will pass. We pursue the work in which we are 
engaged under circumstances of some discouragement. We cannot 
count upon, we do not aek for, the assistance of our opponents. We 



27 

meet with scant consideration from those whom we are attemijting to 
serve. I feel that I have detained you too long. (No.) I thank you 
most sincerely for the patience with which you have listened to me. 
I shall have served some purpose if I have brought before you the 
difficulties by which the Grovernment finds itself encompassed; and if I 
have shown you also the spirit in which we are endeavouring to 
overcome them. I ti'ust also that I may have made clear to you the 
alternative policy which is offered by our opponents for your adoption. 
It is now for you to choose between us. I can only say for myself, that 
I have not found office so free from care and from anxiety that I am 
greatly desirous of its long continuance. I accepted it with hesitation; 1 
shall resign it without reluctance. But there is one thing in connection 
with it which I shall never forget, and that is — that I have been 
permitted, for however short a time and in however humble a capacity, 
to be associated with the ablest and the noblest of English statesmen 
— (cheers) — in a policy which I believe to be just and wise in its 
conception, which I know to be humane and beneficent in its intention, 
which I firmly trust will yet be crowned with signal success, and 
which I think will be recognised by future generations as the greatest 
achievement of a long and splendid public life. (Loud cheers.) 




NATIONAL LIBERAL FEDERATION. 



PUBLICATIONS 



The National Liberal Federation : Its General Objects and iinine<liate 
Work (1880). 

Practical Politics Series : — 

I. The Tenant Farmer : Land Laws and Landlords. By 
James Howard, M.P., is. 

II. Foreign Policy. By the Right Hon, M. E. Grant Duff, 
M.P., 2s.6d. 

III. Freedom of Land. By the Right Hon. G. J. Shaw- 
Lefevfe, M.P., is. 

IV. Our Colonial Policy. By Sir David Wedderburn, Bart., M.P. 

Bright, The Right Hon. John, M.P. :— 

Speech on the Hares and Rabbits' Bill, delivered in the 
House of Commons, August loth, 1880. is. per 100 ; 
7s.6d. per 1,000. 

Do., Welsh translation. 

Crosskey, Rev. H. W., F.G.S. :— 

The Liberal Association, the "600" of Birmingham. 

Fowler, Wm., M.P. :— 
The Land Laws. 

Gladstone, The Right Hon. W. E., M.P. :— 
Political Organization. 

MacCarthy, Rev. E. F. M., M.A. :— 

The Education Code — Lord Norton's Motion. 

MORLEY, John :— 

The House of Commons. 

Schnadhorst, F. : — 

County Organization. A Paper read at a Conference of 
Liberals at Cardiff", October 28th, 1880. 

Whittaker, Thomas P. :— 

Free Trade, Reciprocity, and Foreign Competition. 

Williams, J. Powell :— 

The Ballot Act, and Corrupt Practices at Elections. 



Proceedings attending the Formation of the National Liberal 
Federation. 

First Annual Report (Leeds Meeting, 1879). 

Second do. do. (Darlington Meeting, 18S0). 

Third do, do. (Birmingham, 18S1) 

Specimen copies of the above (with the exception of the Practical 
Politics series) may be obtained, free, on application to the 
Secretary, at Birmingham who will quote terms for quantities. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

020 662 268 4 



